Roman ‘paints a picture’ of Vernon Davis’ incredibly shrinking production

Over their past three games, 49ers tight end Vernon Davis has tallied three more catches than New England Patriots counterpart Rob Gronkowski. Worth noting: Gronkowski hasn’t played because of a broken forearm.

Davis’ lack of productivity is an alarming statistic heading into Sunday night’s game in New England.

After catching six passes for 83 yards and a touchdown in Colin Kaepernick’s first start at quarterback againstChicagoon Nov. 19,Davishas been targeted on only five passes in the ensuing games against the New Orleans Saints, St. Louis Rams and Miami Dolphins.

This is Davis’ quietest three-game stretch since Shaun Hill quarterbacked the 49ers in November 2008. He had caught a pass in 58 consecutive games until none came his way Oct. 18 againstSeattle. He had only a 4-yard reception in Sunday’s win over the Dolphins, which followed a two-catch effort in a Dec. 2 loss at Seattle and a shutout Nov. 25 at New Orleans.

Davis, whose five touchdown receptions share the team lead with Michael Crabtree, hasn’t publicly crusaded for more action — and Brandon Jacobs could probably advise against it at this point.

And here’s the picture offensive coordinator Greg Roman painted today when I asked about Davis’ production:

“I’m not going to get into the X’s and O’s of things, but every team’s different, every situation’s different. I’d say that they’re paying a lot of attention to him at times. On (Colin Kaepernick’s) Kap’s 50-yard run a couple of weeks ago (in St. Louis), there was 10 guys. Vernon ran that way and there was 10 guys on that side of the field. So, I think that kind of paints a picture.”

Rob Gronkowski still has not practiced with the Patriots and it’d be a surprise if he playe.d

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Here is what else Roman had to say in his weekly press conference:

Opening Statement:

“Good afternoon. Got a great challenge this week, going to play the New England Patriots. As you look at them on defense, they’re as physical a defense as we’ve seen since we’ve been here, as fundamentally sound a defense as we’ve seen. And they present you just a multitude of things to prepare for, both from a personnel and schematic standpoint. Their front seven is as stout as I’ve seen and it starts with the big guy [Patriots DT Vince] Wilfork, who’s a tremendous athlete for his size. I think everybody got to see him on display last week against the Texans. And then the line backing crew, they’re just big, physical, athletic guys that complement their down linemen. [Patriots LB Rob] Ninkovich is a very unique player, in that he plays a multitude of roles at a very high level, always seems to understand what’s going on and is a very good football player. Secondary is very physical as well, physical in coverage, they give you a multitude of looks and it’s a lot to prepare for. We’re excited about it. Any questions?”

Do they just, just like you said, give you a lot of looks? Is it more than other teams you’ve faced, most teams that you’ve faced this season?

“I’d say yes in a different way. Their front seven, they play a 5-2, a 4-3, a 6-1, a 6-2, even seen them play an 8-2 in a four-minute type of situation. They can move around, they’ll move and switch where they’re leveraging a gap, where they’re leveraging a player throughout the pre-snap, so you’re not quite sure what they’re doing until right before the ball snaps. So, those seven pieces can move around and really fit in anywhere. And then from a coverage standpoint, really good disguise team, good players, good scheme. So, we’ve got a lot to get ready for.”

Last week you guys had some difficulty getting the play off in time, four timeouts used on offense. How does the onus fall on [QB Colin] Kaepernick with that offense to make the Patriots kind of show their cards, show their hand before the snap of the ball?

“That’s a hard thing to do with the Patriots. The onus falls on all of us as an offense to be more efficient. It’s a case-by-case situation. A couple of them were, I’d say, wise timeouts relative to what we wanted to do and what we actually did. The Patriots are a smart, heady, physical, productive defense that, it’s all about just getting things executed once the ball is snapped consistently and trying to get into a rhythm.”

I don’t remember you guys practicing the Pistol too much during training camp. Is that something that you’ve really started doing over the last month now that Kap’s been in?

“We’ve done some Pistol in training camp. We did it at Stanford some. It’s just another formation and it’s really all it is, just another formation.”

How much time did you spend with University of Nevada head coach Chris Ault, talking about it?

“Yeah, did spend some time with Chris. About three years ago, made the trek to Nevada and visited with him and his staff. That was very valuable time spent. He was very accommodating and it was very interesting as a coach to go really learn something totally new. And he’s a very good football coach that was very accommodating. So, it was good.”

One of the storylines will be Patriots head coach Bill Belichick scheming against the young quarterback, who knows what he’s going to throw out there. Is that overblown, is there an element of you don’t know what the Patriots could throw out there? It could be a real challenge for Kaepernick.

“Yeah, I mean over the course of time as you go back and watch the Patriots, they’re going to, appears at least from an offensive perspective, that they’re going to do what they think it takes to win the game or win the situation. That might be something you haven’t seen, it might be off of something you’ve seen when they change the picture on you at the last second, that type of thing. It’s a challenge, everything’s a challenge. Kap, the whole group is having a good week of preparation and that’s what it’s going to take.”

When you see this game on the schedule in April, do you start to do some work ahead of time against the Patriots?

“We try to work on all of our opponents in the offseason, not just our division opponents, but we try to work on the AFC East, for example we’re playing this year. So, we definitely have some time scheduled out to start our studies, yes.”

Are you saying that, they had a Thursday game last month and Brady took the time after that game to do some research on the 49ers. Have you guys done any extra research in the last month or so on Brady and the Patriots?

“We’ve been working hard to get ready for our next opponent. Now, after the Seattle Thursday night game, which I can’t even remember when that was, we spent some time on an upcoming opponent. But, every week’s a challenge and these guys present a lot of them.”

What are the common elements defenses are doing to take away TE Vernon Davis? Three catches the last three games total, so what’s going on?

“I’m not going to get into the X’s and O’s of things, but every team’s different, every situation’s different. I’d say that they’re paying a lot of attention to him at times. On [QB Colin Kaepernick] Kap’s 50-yard run a couple of weeks ago, there was 10 guys. Vernon ran that way and there was 10 guys on that side of the field. So, I think that kind of paints a picture.”

Was that an exaggeration?

“No exaggeration. [RB] Frank [Gore] cut the last guy.”

How much responsibility does your offense have in helping defensive coordinator Vic Fangio and the defense keep Brady and that offense in check?

“I think when you look at their team, we’ve seen their offense a lot as scouting upcoming opponents. They’ve played a lot of teams before we have, and we’re very impressed with their offense and what the production they’ve been able to create. So, we’re well aware that we’ve got to play at our best this week against a very good team. You saw what they did to Houston on Monday night, and Houston’s a heck of a football team. As [head] coach [Jim] Harbaugh would say, it’s going to take all three phases to play our best. So, I think it’s definitely, there’s an equation there and we all work together.”

We saw the Redskins running the Pistol the other night. Are there other teams besides you and the Redskins that run it? Do the Panthers run it?

“I believe the Panthers. I have seen the Panthers get in that formation, yeah. But the Redskins probably do it more than anybody. It’s just another formation. There’s a lot different ways you can build formations and rebuild formations. But, it’s just another formation. I think the Redskins definitely do it more than anybody and we’re just kind of starting to tap into it now.”

Do you call it the Pistol when you have the three guys in the backfield or do you call it something else internally?

“We don’t call it the Pistol, no. It’s two syllables. We just use one syllable. It’s a ‘Q’ formation.”

Have you talked to Chris Ault at all on Nevada just to pick your brain?

“A couple of years ago. Yeah, probably three years ago, three or four years ago, leading into the, what was it, before the 2010 season.”

What can you gather by talking to a guy face-to-face as opposed to just watching the film?

“Oh gosh, I think you can gain a lot if they’re willing to tell you. You can gain a lot with an upside, the downside , what other teams do to try to stop it. When they do that, what do you do? Every little nuance, it’s just so much in terms of how you might sequence things, the downside, the upside. And definitely what people have tried to do to combat it or defend it, and then the next logical step for them. So, great information.”

Were you surprised to see the Patriots stifle Houston as well as they did so early in the game? Houston couldn’t do much of anything at all. How did they do it and were you surprised that they did it so well so quickly?

“Every game, you never know what’s going to happen, you really don’t. When that game started, nobody really knew what was going to happen, and it unfolded the way it did. The Patriots played great, and they’re playing at a high level. So, they probably were a little more specific in what they did to Houston than Houston thought. And if you asked Houston, they probably said, ‘Hey, we left some opportunities out there.’ But nothing really surprises you. You just go out, you compete and whoever plays better for those three hours is the winner.”

Cam Inman

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You think teams tried to stop Jerry Rice? Good teams and good offensive coordinators find a way to get the ball to their best players, their playmakers. I think it’s ridiculous that the Niners don’t get Davis at least 5-7 balls a game.

Bobby Fischer

Cynic – I agree.

Bobby Fischer

I’d say good QBs, too.

niner61

Guess the handcuffs are back on with new leg irons too. Wonder how many passing plays he’s kept in to block. GRo is definitely a running game expert and not so much in the passing game though. All the Alex-haters wanted to blame the weak passing game on him but I think we’re learning that all those deep passes that weren’t thrown to Moss and others are more a result of JH’s and GRo’s philosophy and inconsistent pass protection.

I don’t know what the deal is with our passing game coordination , too many weapons for us not to be taking advantage … Moss,crabs,Vernon, manningham,walker WTF… and can u please add the screen game to our gameplan , that’s one of the most dangerous plays in the game….

dietrich from maui

We have an amazing advantage on defense.. we have the two most athletic inside linebackers in the league in our nickel packaged. We can stop the run in our nickel ,and that’s how the pats get their rushing yards.

Although i dont like anyone on our offense other than frank da tank gore..i think its crazy that the niners dont use vernon more hes the most dangerous person with the ball in hand!!he could catch a 2yard pass break tackles take it to da house for a passing td remember those???

meh

Isn’t it possible it’s a combination of things? Blaming the coaches when the schemes aren’t working, QB is new and struggling to get things going… Be happy you’re still winning games and at the top of the division while running an experiment at the most important position in the game.

Niner4life

I think everybody being so concern about Vernon getting the ball is dumb yall crying more then him he not really complaining yea he a competitor and want the ball but the main goal is a ring and to be honest this team has a lot more weapons than to just exhaust time trying to get Vernon the ball when multiple ppl covering him were winning is what’s matter Crabtree is thriving off Vernon being double and triple coverage so his still helpin the team but I guess ppl more worried about stats than winning a superbowl

joecool

All good players are double and triple teamed. Look at calvin johnson and brandon marshall. They still get 100the plus a game. Leaders make things happen. Losers make excuses.

Really?

Moron. Complete and utter moron. Vernon Davis was THE guy for the past how many years?? You’re telling me defenses decided to cover him now? Are you saying Rob Gronkowski doesn’t get covered?

Seriously if you can’t discuss the X’s and O’s they get the hell out of town. It’s your job to explain how you are using or rather not using one of your play markers.

I think we found out why the 49er offense is vanilla and why they have a rager for Kap. Kap can make up for the deficiencies in the play calling. Alex can’t.

Time for a new offensive coordinator.

Boxergar

Even if they keep Vernon Davis on the edge to block I don’t think it does helps Gore on plays up the middle. Better to keep him in a receiver mode so a LB follows him.

Lance Newberry

Did someone compare Vernon Davis to Jerry Rice? Common’ man.

I think it’s funny that in the past it’s been Alex Smith who was to blame for everything that was wrong or missing from the passing game, and now it seems that some think it must be Roman, because apparently the 49ers have a whole stable full of superstar receivers who are always wide open and simply can not be covered.

Except they don’t, and they can, and are.

Being covered that is.

Including Vernon.

Roman does some things that annoy me, but unlike the bums and fools who held that position the past 8 – 10 years before him it is obvious that the guy knows what he’s doing, and the team is winning.

And they’re not winning with just great defense “despite” Roman, or Smith, or whoever; they’re winning because they play smart, conservative offense that does not make mistakes or take big chances that give the opposition easy scores from short fields.

One of the main reasons the 49ers defense has been so good and given up so few points the past two seasons is because they almost always have most of the field at their backs when they go out there. And that is thanks to the offense as a whole being well organized and playing smart, and because the QBs are not just heaving it up when the receivers aren’t open.

Keep grinding Roman. At least until the team can actually get one or two REAL superstar receivers.

GO NINERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Niner Faithful

Looks like Vernon Davis will be on the trading block next year. The writing is on the wall ever since Harbaugh went nuts with his QB switch. The “genius” pretender Harbaugh has messed up a winning formula. Put Alex Smith back at starting position to revive the 49er offense and improve Vernon’s productivity.

What makes sense to me about V.Davis lack of touches is that 1- he is a super blocker for both run and pass plays, they need his physical presence to make those plays work, he can block better than most all other 9ers, and 2- I think it wise to save his pass catching abilities only when needed, I would hate to think where we would be without him, an injury to him would mean disaster for the offense as a whole. Just wait, he will be there in the end to catch those quick slants and end zone back shoulder fades. Harbaugh is saving him for the ” big show” and when home field advantage is on the line. Go 9ers!!!!!!!! Take Tom and the Pat’s to school

lindol

One of the reasons we went with Kaep as qb was his ability to get VD the ball. Woops.

bobswire

Lance Newberry, well stated. My belief also. The Niners are 13th in points scored out of 32 teams and 1 st for allowing the fewest points yet some of you are whining as though you can do better. Get real.
The 9ers are the best balanced team in football bar none.